diff --git a/.github/workflows/ci.yaml b/.github/workflows/ci.yaml
index 2beb066..232eb04 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/ci.yaml
+++ b/.github/workflows/ci.yaml
@@ -33,3 +33,37 @@ jobs:
 
       - name: Run djhtml
         run: djhtml pgcommitfest/*/templates/*.html pgcommitfest/*/templates/*.inc --tabwidth=1 --check
+
+  test:
+    runs-on: ubuntu-24.04
+    name: "Django Tests"
+
+    services:
+      postgres:
+        image: postgres:18
+        env:
+          POSTGRES_USER: postgres
+          POSTGRES_PASSWORD: postgres
+        options: >-
+          --health-cmd pg_isready
+          --health-interval 10s
+          --health-timeout 5s
+          --health-retries 5
+        ports:
+          - 5432:5432
+
+    steps:
+      - name: Checkout code
+        uses: actions/checkout@v4
+
+      - name: Set up Python with uv
+        uses: astral-sh/setup-uv@v4
+
+      - name: Create CI settings
+        run: cp pgcommitfest/local_settings_example.py pgcommitfest/local_settings.py
+
+      - name: Install dependencies
+        run: uv sync --extra dev
+
+      - name: Run tests
+        run: uv run pytest --create-db
diff --git a/pgcommitfest/commitfest/tests/__init__.py b/pgcommitfest/commitfest/tests/__init__.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..7d5a9d9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pgcommitfest/commitfest/tests/__init__.py
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+# Tests for the commitfest application
diff --git a/pgcommitfest/commitfest/tests/test_apiv1.py b/pgcommitfest/commitfest/tests/test_apiv1.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..196d03c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pgcommitfest/commitfest/tests/test_apiv1.py
@@ -0,0 +1,94 @@
+from django.test import override_settings
+
+import json
+from datetime import date
+
+import pytest
+
+from pgcommitfest.commitfest.models import CommitFest
+
+pytestmark = pytest.mark.django_db
+
+
+@pytest.fixture
+def commitfests():
+    """Create test commitfests with various statuses."""
+    return {
+        "open": CommitFest.objects.create(
+            name="2025-01",
+            status=CommitFest.STATUS_OPEN,
+            startdate=date(2025, 1, 1),
+            enddate=date(2025, 1, 31),
+            draft=False,
+        ),
+        "in_progress": CommitFest.objects.create(
+            name="2024-11",
+            status=CommitFest.STATUS_INPROGRESS,
+            startdate=date(2024, 11, 1),
+            enddate=date(2024, 11, 30),
+            draft=False,
+        ),
+        "recent_previous": CommitFest.objects.create(
+            name="2024-09",
+            status=CommitFest.STATUS_CLOSED,
+            startdate=date(2024, 9, 1),
+            enddate=date(2024, 9, 30),
+            draft=False,
+        ),
+        "old_previous": CommitFest.objects.create(
+            name="2024-07",
+            status=CommitFest.STATUS_CLOSED,
+            startdate=date(2024, 7, 1),
+            enddate=date(2024, 7, 31),
+            draft=False,
+        ),
+        "draft": CommitFest.objects.create(
+            name="2025-03-draft",
+            status=CommitFest.STATUS_OPEN,
+            startdate=date(2025, 3, 1),
+            enddate=date(2025, 3, 31),
+            draft=True,
+        ),
+    }
+
+
+def test_needs_ci_endpoint(client, commitfests):
+    """Test the /api/v1/commitfests/needs_ci endpoint returns correct data."""
+    with override_settings(AUTO_CREATE_COMMITFESTS=False):
+        response = client.get("/api/v1/commitfests/needs_ci")
+
+    # Check response metadata
+    assert response.status_code == 200
+    assert response["Content-Type"] == "application/json"
+    assert response["Access-Control-Allow-Origin"] == "*"
+
+    # Parse and compare response
+    data = json.loads(response.content)
+
+    expected = {
+        "commitfests": {
+            "open": {
+                "id": commitfests["open"].id,
+                "name": "2025-01",
+                "status": "Open",
+                "startdate": "2025-01-01",
+                "enddate": "2025-01-31",
+            },
+            "in_progress": {
+                "id": commitfests["in_progress"].id,
+                "name": "2024-11",
+                "status": "In Progress",
+                "startdate": "2024-11-01",
+                "enddate": "2024-11-30",
+            },
+            "draft": {
+                "id": commitfests["draft"].id,
+                "name": "2025-03-draft",
+                "status": "Open",
+                "startdate": "2025-03-01",
+                "enddate": "2025-03-31",
+            },
+        }
+    }
+
+    assert data == expected
diff --git a/pyproject.toml b/pyproject.toml
index 3ef0d3b..d3fd18b 100644
--- a/pyproject.toml
+++ b/pyproject.toml
@@ -18,6 +18,8 @@ dev = [
     "pycodestyle",
     "ruff",
     "djhtml",
+    "pytest",
+    "pytest-django",
 ]
 
 [tool.setuptools.packages.find]
@@ -47,3 +49,13 @@ section-order = [
 [tool.ruff.lint.isort.sections]
 # Group all Django imports into a separate section.
 django = ["django"]
+
+[tool.pytest.ini_options]
+DJANGO_SETTINGS_MODULE = "pgcommitfest.settings"
+python_files = ["tests.py", "test_*.py", "*_tests.py"]
+testpaths = ["pgcommitfest"]
+addopts = [
+    "--reuse-db",
+    "--strict-markers",
+    "-vv",
+]